Reminders

"Why should we mourn, or think our lot is hard?

'Tis not so; all is right."

It's funny how things are put into perspective with one simple line of a song. I'm grateful to those who have gone before me and sacrificed so much. Their faith and love of the Savior has helped me become who I am today.

Guess Who's Crawling??

I haven't done an update post on Claire in about... forever. Sorry folks! Our little peanut is growing up way too fast though. She's 9 months. Can you believe it?? 9 months! Right before we went to Priest Lake this year, Claire started attempting to crawl, but hadn't quite mastered it. When we got home, suddenly the girl was crawling EVERYWHERE! We were shocked. She was one of those "overnighters" :) Our newest worry now are the stairs here at my Mom's. For some reason, they seem to have some magnetic force that attracts Claire to them whenever we're not looking. Needless to say, there have been many a dash to the stairs to scoop up the wee babe just before she tumbles downward. Luckily, there have not been any spills to date. She keeps us on our toes!

She's eating solids really well now and absolutely loves pears. I think she could live on pears alone. But, we encourage the veggies, even though she shudders any time she eats them. It's hilarious. She also loves graham crackers, Cheerios, cinnamon toast crunch (in very very limited quantities, don't worry) tortillas, bread, potatoes in any variety, i.e. french fries, baked potato, mashed potato, roasted potato, etc., and loves to chew on celery and carrots. She's got teeth too! 5 to be exact. Well, I think two of the teeth are fused together, so I guess technically 4? Anyway, she has her two top front and her two bottom front. The teeth that I think are fused are her bottom right front tooth and eye tooth. They're total snaggle. :)

She's started this new funny thing where whenever I feed her a bottle, one hand instantly goes to her ear and starts playing with it, while the other starts playing with her hair. Yeah, she doesn't hold her own bottles yet. She's totally content with me holding it for her. We're working on that.

Another funny thing- She has always growled. Ever since she was an infant, she has growled. But lately, she's started sounding like an engine that is struggling. :) Dallin took a video of it the other night on his phone. I'll have to post it on here, because it is so funny! She is consistently saying da-da, ma-ma, ba-ba, ga-ga, and every now and again, she says "sha-sha" and "fah-fah". She hasn't started associating those words with anything, although, she does look at me sometimes and say ma ma, and da da to Dallin, but I'm never sure if it's just coincidence or if she knows. I'll just say I have a genius of a kid and that she knows what she's doin. :)

She still loves her baths and loves playing with her toys in the bath. She hates being on her back, so changing diapers tends to be a challenge! She hates getting her hair fixed, but I always manage to do it somehow and she never sits still. The girl is ALWAYS on the go. I have to clip her toenails and fingernails while she is asleep because she wiggles too much while she is awake. She's totally unsure about animals, which ends up being quite entertaining to watch because she gets excited and nervous all at the same time. She reaches out to pet an animal then draws her hand back and starts whimpering. We can't figure that one out yet :) She loves to be outside and the other day we discovered that she loves to watch grandpa mow the lawn. Good gravy, she just sat in my lap and watched the mower the entire time. It's been one of the few times she actually stayed still. :) We think she must be allergic to sunscreen, because whenever I put it on her face, she breaks out in a rash and her eyes get all red and watery. So whenever we're outside, we stick to the shade.

Life with Claire at this stage is so much fun and we're loving every minute of it! I will post some videos soon. I just need to figure out my video camera... it's confusing to load things on the computer. Until the videos, though, here are lots of pictures!

We took family pictures with my immediate family the Saturday before 4th of July and this was Claire's outfit. I loved it, personally :)

My sleepy babe at Priest Lake

Kissy lips from Grandma Valerie at the lake :)

Playing with cords. Her favorite thing!

She loved being in the boat at Priest Lake. And she was super tired in this picture :)

CRAWLING!! :)

Family

Sorry about the lack of posting! The last two weeks have been filled with family, family and more family! It's been wonderful too. I have enjoyed every minute. Except yesterday. Yesterday brought a 24 hour stomach bug that left me on the couch for hours on end and calling my AMAZING niece, Sarah to come watch Claire for me. Seriously, all those years of watching her as a little girl are totally being paid off right now. Love that good Karma. :)

On Sunday, Dallin informed me that his Uncle Bret had had a heart attack the day previous. We were both very worried and concerned and he was kept in our thoughts and prayers. He had heart open heart surgery yesterday and, I am told, it went well.

What struck me about that whole situation though, was the response of Bret's 6 brothers (my father-in-law and his brothers). As soon as they all heard about the heart attack and the ensuing surgery, they dropped everything and either flew or drove down to Utah to be with him. All 6 of these men are heavily involved with agriculture, and if any of you are not aware, this is their BUSY season. This is the season where they are stressing about hay prices and the weather. This is the, "I'll stay up all night if I have to, to make sure it gets done" season. This is when they make it or break it. This is the season where it's extremely difficult to drop everything and leave for a few days. But that's what they did. All 6 of them. They went to be with their brother in his time of need. They stuck by him until the end of his surgery to show their love and support. What a testament to Bret of how much he is loved.

If any of you know the Calaway men, they may seem a little (read: VERY) intimidating, maybe a little rough and tough, but I'll let you in on a little secret: they're all softies (in the very best sense of the word!) Those men are some of the greatest examples of love for family, love for spouses, and love of the gospel. I feel so incredibly blessed to have married into such an amazing family. Thank you Jeff, Bret, Courtney, Eric, Kerry, Kip and Cameron for being role models for my husband, for being uncles and a father-in-law to me and for loving us both. You men are amazing. And thank you to Jane, their mother, for raising 7 incredible boys. You were and are an amazing mother. And to Val- Even though you are gone, you left a lasting love and legacy with your boys which they will not soon forget.

L-R: (top) Jeff, (bottom) Bret, Courtney, Eric

L-R: Top Row Courtney, Jeff, Bret, Eric
L-R: Bottom Row Jane, Kerry, Val, Kip

L-R: Top Row Courtney, Foreign Exchange Student? I think?, Jeff, Bret, Eric
L-R: Bottom Row Jane, Cameron, Kerry, Val, Kip

{Taken April 2009 at Grandpa Val Calaway's Funeral}
L-R: Eric, Cameron, Courtney, Jane, Jeff, Bret, Kerry, Kip

And I Said, "What About Breakfast at Tiffany's?"

My sweet little cousin, Tiffy-Kay (my nickname for her) is getting married. Even though she's only 3 years younger than me, it seems weird to me. I guess, in my minds eye, we're still playing barbies and dressing up. And although I have yet to meet her cute fiance, John (aka Scooter) he sounds like a wonderful guy. Anyone to catch the eye of Tiff must be pretty amazing! Last night we had a bridal shower for her and it turned out beautifully! Staci, Kristen, Shannon, Rachel and Mom, you outdid yourselves yet again.

The theme was "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and Tiffany's colors are Tiffany & Co. blue, white and silver. So, obviously, with a theme like that, and colors like that, it had to be fancy shmancy, which it was, to the nth degree. Lots of bling, lots of blue and lots of delicious, really healthy (read: fattening) food!

The Dessert Table

Tiffany's aunt, (my cousin) Kristen, made the gorgeous cupcakes. And trust me when I say, they tasted just as delicious as they looked. Heaven in my mouth.

"Girls in white dresses with blue satin... flowers..." These were the beautiful girls that met everyone at the door and then served the dinner.

Those cute blue satin flowers they are wearing were given to all the guests as favors. Me, my mom, Shannon, Staci and Rachel cranked those out one day. Lemme tell ya, there was a lot of burning, sewing, and assembling that day! :)

Because of the Tiffany & Co blue that we were using, we had to have a huge diamond, right??

The cute table that everyone saw as they walked in

Staci decorated the top of her piano with that cute jewelry tree and pearl necklaces. I loved it. She's amazing.

Their wedding announcement. I absolutely LOVE it.

The menu telling everyone what we would be eating

These sweet little girls sang "I love to see the Temple" for Tiff right before she opened her gifts. It was just about as close to heavenly Angels as you can get.

The favor boxes

Table Settings

Tiffany's aunt had the cutest idea for all of us to write down a piece of advice for her marriage, or a little love note for her. When she opened our gift to her, we would read off whatever advice we wanted to give her for her upcoming marriage. My advice was to always tell John how much she appreciated him and loved him, because it will inspire and encourage him to become even better. And pretty soon he'll get the hint and start telling her how amazing she is too. ;-)

Congratulations Tiffany, I am so excited for and proud of you! You will make a beautiful bride! And once again- Staci, Shannon, Rachel, Kristen and Mom- You guys are amazing! The food was delicious, the decorations were fabulous and you outdid yourselves once again.